[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 17856-17857]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                                TAX CUTS

  Ms. LANDRIEU. I come to the floor today to talk about another 
particular aspect of fiscal responsibility that is so important. We are 
in the middle of one of the most important debates of this Congress 
that may have repercussions for the next generation or two, an 
opportunity that we haven't really had since 1981 when there was a huge 
tax cut, and, many of us think, an irresponsible tax cut given at that 
time that drove our deficits tremendously upward and raised the debt of 
this Nation.
  We are now in the process of debating what to do with our great 
fortune, a real surplus in non-Social Security revenues. We know what 
we want to do with the Social Security surplus, and that is to set it 
aside to strengthen this program because it is a value that Americans 
share. What do we do with the non-Social Security surplus?
  I am one of the Members on this side who hope we can find some 
measure of tax relief for hard-working, middle-income, low-income 
Americans, to do it in a way that helps to close the gap in this 
country between the haves and the have-nots, that helps our children in 
the next generation to become part of this new economy. I hope we can 
fashion some smaller, responsible, well-thought-through, and careful 
tax relief for low-income and middle-income families that will help 
them, their children, and their grandchildren to participate in perhaps 
the greatest economic boom to ever happen in the history of the world, 
not just in this Nation, not just in this democracy, not just in this 
century, but an economic prosperity that is unprecedented in the 
history of many nations.
  What we want to do if we are going to have a tax cut--and I certainly 
support one that is responsible and along responsible fiscal lines--is 
to craft it in such a way that it helps to give our children and our 
grandchildren the opportunity to participate by improving their skills, 
by improving their opportunity to create their own businesses, by 
creating perhaps opportunities for them to participate in this new 
economy.
  One of the things that is very important to our generation and to the 
generations to come is reflected in a new poll that was just released 
this week by Frank Luntz, commissioned by the Nature Conservancy, about 
fiscal responsibility. It is also about the Department of Interior, the 
appropriations bill we are going to be discussing for that Department 
also this week.
  One of the important issues is how we might reallocate surpluses in 
our continued quest for fiscal responsibility in this Nation, how to 
direct some of the revenues coming into the Federal Treasury. A great 
source of revenue that has been coming into the Federal Treasury over 
the last 50 years at about $4 billion a year--sometimes more, sometimes 
less--for a total of $120 billion since 1955 has been money from 
offshore oil and gas revenues. That money, from the Outer Continental 
Shelf of the United States, primarily off the shores of Louisiana, 
contributed to a great deal by Mississippi, Texas, and Alaska, the 
producing States, has gone in the Federal Treasury and has been used 
basically for general operating funds.
  I and many of my colleagues on this and the other side of the aisle, 
a bipartisan coalition, think now is the time, as we debate what to do 
with these surpluses, as we debate how to reallocate some of these 
revenues, as we debate what are the proper investments to make in the 
next century regarding tax reductions and investments in education, to 
talk about making a strong, permanent commitment to our environment.
  As the poll results I am going to submit for the Record this 
afternoon indicate, by a wide majority, Republicans and Democrats, 
young and old, people who live on the east coast and the west coast, 
people who live in the flat plains and in the mountains overwhelmingly 
support a real trust fund and a real commitment to preserve parks, 
recreation areas, open spaces, and wildlife in this Nation.
  That is what one of the bills, S. 25, which has been moving through 
this process both in the House and the Senate, will do. It would make 
permanent a source of funding from Outer Continental Shelf revenues 
within the framework of a balanced budget, in a very fiscally 
conservative way, by using these revenues that are coming from a 
nonrenewable resource.

[[Page 17857]]

  One day these oil and gas wells are going to dry up. I spent my time 
and energy trying to take some of these tax dollars that are already 
being paid to invest in something that will last for generations to 
come, something the American people want to pay for, something the 
American people believe in; that is, creating open spaces for parks and 
recreation.
  I will submit this polling information for the Record. I rise to 
speak for a few minutes about the importance of fiscal responsibility, 
about a tax cut that could be meaningful, if it is done correctly, and 
about the potential of using some of these dollars--not raise dollars 
but redirect some of our dollars into a program that is so important to 
the American people--full funding for land and water conservation, 
funding for needs of coastal cities and coastal communities, and also 
wildlife conservation programs throughout the Nation.
  I thank the Chair and yield back the remainder of my time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
  Mr. TORRICELLI addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.
  Mr. TORRICELLI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to address the 
Senate as in morning business for 10 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. TORRICELLI. I thank the Chair.

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